Posts By Angela Hooker

It all started with an empty pot of coffee. But let me start at the beginning… Back in the olden days, when I roamed the earth with the dinosaurs, my personality was a bit different. In the workplace, I was shy and timid, and as a result, somewhat reticent. That didn’t last long, thankfully, probably… Read more »

I had a friend who always said, “As quiet as it’s kept…” meaning he would call out the so-called “elephant in the room”; the topic that no one wants to talk about. You could expect to hear… “As quiet as it’s kept, the only reason they laugh at Uncle Herb’s corny jokes is because he gives… Read more »

I’ve been working since I was 16-years-old. My parents taught me the importance of good ol’ honest, hard work and honoring my commitments, including in the workplace. I had a few challenges early in my career, as we all do, but I learned how to ensure that I was organized and productive. And then one… Read more »

We’ve got a new twist this week, folks. Since I’ve been blogging mostly about accessibility, I wanted to talk with someone who approaches accessibility from a different perspective than a subject matter expert. I met with a designer who works for a federal government agency and has a refreshing outlook on design and accessibility. She… Read more »

At my job in the 1900s (you guess the decade), my supervisor told us that she wouldn’t approve our working from home anymore. That was too bad, because I always accomplished much more from my den than I did in the office. I didn’t have the distractions, and amazingly, I had the discipline to to… Read more »

Mom’s battling it out with words, animals, and vegetables on her favorite game site. She’ll be reading the news again later this afternoon and probably paying the bills. I’ve noticed that she leans forward more often to see the screen. Dad’s balling and making it rain on his favorite computer parts site. He gets frustrated… Read more »

I met a fellow govie recently, and when I told him that I work in digital media accessibility, he said, “OMG, I could not review code all day, every day!” Well…neither could I, and although that’s what most people think we accessibility peeps do, that’s not the case. I may or may not look at… Read more »

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 and Executive Order 13563 both require that we communicate clearly, accessibly, consistently so that government information is easy to understand. The principles of plain language help us provide universal access to government information, for many people. We’re told to “write for average comprehension,” when we use those principles. So,… Read more »

I just read a blog post about the benefits of an accessible site. Despite working in accessibility for the past 15 years, sometimes I still get surprised that we even need to have the conversation about accessibility being necessary and the right thing to do–particularly in government where we’re required to comply with Section 508…. Read more »